When Did That Happen?
by SCWLC
Summary: Um, flashbacks sorta happen. I don't wanna give it away. It's AU post S2
1. Replay

When Did That Happen?  
  
Sarah Shapiro  
  
Disclaimer: I own nothing, 'cuz if I did Buffy, Angel, Giles, etc. would be happy.  
  
Author's notes: This takes place during the summer, after season two. Pretend Angel took the arm away to a remote region of the world and that the soul thing never came up and never will. All e-mail goes to scwlc@yahoo.ca. Also, points to those who can identify all the episodes involved.  
  
Summary: Chaos happens when everyone in Sunnydale starts to physically flashback to time when they were turned into somthing paranormal (kinda). Anything else gives it away.  
  
  
It was a normal day in Sunnydale as Cordelia Chase walked down the street towards her boyfriend's house. Well, as normal as things ever got around there. As she walked along the row of houses Cordelia could see all the things that went on every day in Sunnydale that elsewhere would have drawn attention. Little things, like Amy Madison, tossing the garbage onto the the curb to be picked up by the garbage collection truck. That in itself was not strange. The fact that Amy was doing so without laying a finger on said bags, or even walking to the curb was strange. But it was one among many things that the people of Sunnydale had a major blind spot about.  
  
Cordelia sighed. Ever since the weirdness going on around her had impinged on her conscious thoughts, she had become less and less popular. By the time school had ended for the summer things had reached a point of all-out warfare between her and the once-Cordette Harmony. The battle lines had been drawn with entire school divided between Cordelia and Harmony. Cordelia's boyfriend, one of the official school freak's best friends had somehow gained support from the football and swim teams. That had backfired with the female following but had, however, helped with much of the male population.   
  
Even the faculty had become involved. Willow, as the token nerd of Cordelia's side of the battle, had extra pull, due to her position of de facto staff member. She had been subbing for Ms. Calender during the last month of school while the technopagan computer teacher recovered from her . . . extracurricular activities with Giles. The teacher's pet aspect combined with the unofficial (and slighly illegal) faculty position, had gained the (officially nonexistant) support of both teachers and geeks.  
  
The nerd's support had also been useful as she was the second coolest of the freak set, with the coolest being the freak's freak Buffy Summers. Willow had been something of a loser just a year and a half ago, but exposure to Buffy, the Vampire Slayer had altered her. Willow had gained in both self confidence and fashion sense. After all, Buffy had all the hallmarks of a truly popular teenager. Good looks, wit, style, and a well off family.  
  
Her lack of a good placement in the school's hierarchy was more due to a lack of effort than anything else. Cordelia was certain that if Buffy had put time into her makeup and social life she could have blown both the May Queen and Harmony out of the water. The world would have ended and everyone would be dead, but Buffy would have been at the top of the teenage pecking order.  
  
Abruptly a weird feeling passed through her and Cordelia stopped dead in her tracks. *Great,* she thought *Just the way to start summer vacation. Another Apocalypse.* She shook her head sternly. *Just because a lot of stuff has happened doesn't mean that anything is going to happen right now,* Cordelia told herself firmly as she started walking again, at an increased pace, to Xander's house.  
  
Just as she reached his front door the world vanished. Cordelia screamed in panic and hoped that someone would hear.  
  
Someone did hear.  
  
Xander was sitting in his room fiddling with his guitar and wondering for the gazillionth time if Cordelia was planning on showing. He heard her cries and dashed to the front door. He yanked it open and saw Cordelia at his front door screaming for all she was worth.  
  
He also saw that there was nothing else out there, figuratively speaking.   
  
"Cordy? You okay?" he asked. Quite frankly, anywhere else he would have made a crack about her apparent fear of nothing, but being the Slayer's sidekick had taught him that frightened people in Sunnydale generally had good reason to be scared.   
  
"Xander? Ohmigod, where am I? What's going on? Why is it so dark? I . . ."  
  
He cut off the panicked flow of words, "Whoa! Slow down Cordy! You're on my front porch, and I believe that we were here to do whatever it is we do." Xander said, startled and extremely concerned by Cordelia's panic. He had rarely seen her this scared, and at times she had been the calmest of the Slayerettes. True, it had been due in part to her total cluelessness when it came to facing evil, but this was still worrisome.  
  
Then he saw her eyes.   
  
Normally brown, they were now blue. A shade of blue that no normal person's eyes would be. It was incredibly pale. Her pupils had almost completely disappeared into her irises.  
  
Xander grabbed his girlfriend's arm and, warning her about the stairs, he guided her to the car parked in the driveway. "Cordy, either you've just taken an obsession with fashion too far or something majorly Sunnydale is going on."  
  
"Wait!" Cordelia dug in her heels, "Xander, what . . . where. . . where are we going?"  
  
"We're going to see Giles. Now."  
  
  
Buffy and Willow were having a girl to girl chat about 'girl stuff'. Willow was sitting on her best friend's bed staring at the other girl with a mixture of delight and weirded-outness. Buffy was sitting across from her on a chair, so deeply involved in recounting her adventure of the previous night she wouldn't have noticed a bomb going off in her general vicinity (or so it seemed).   
  
" . . . And then Angel began to do all sorts of stuff which I won't say Will, but oh god it was just incredible! One day he's not even in town, and the next he's kissing my-"  
  
"Buffy that's . . . that's . . . " Willow said wanting details, just not those details, but stopped here as she had no idea how to continue that sentence. She decided on another tack. "So are you guys doing anything tonight?" Buffy grinned in response. She looked so much happier now that Angel was back.  
  
Willow smiled back, remembering the first chat they had had on the topic of Angel, and considered briefly how much those conversations had changed since the days of the Really Annoying Gorgeous Tall Guy. Angel was now the standard which the other males of the Slayerettes had yet to reach. So mysterious, so romantic, so dedicated to Buffy, so unbelievably sexy and handsome, and smart too! And to top it all off as Cordelia often added, he could dress. To be fair of course, Xander and Giles were not the poster children of hip style, and Oz was the only person Willow knew who could carry of the whole, 'Oz' look.  
  
How Cordelia, Willow, and Ms. Calender envied Buffy's good fortune. At least in the man department. It wasn't that Willow was unhappy with Oz, It was just that sometimes she wished she could enjoy some of the tingly experiences she had heard so much about from Buffy.   
  
The Slayer blushed slightly, "Yeah. Actually, that's what I wanted to talk to you about. Y'see, I want to arrange this really romantic evening. Y'know, candlelit dinner, music-"  
  
"Smoochies," Willow said with an envious smile. "I take it you want help with ideas and organisation."  
  
"Well not just that. I want it at his place so that in the morning when we uh . . . um well you know." Buffy said flushing.   
  
Willow did know. Sorta. At least she knew in that she knew what Buffy was trying to say, but she didn't know from experience. Again she cursed Oz for being so slow in the smoochies department.   
  
Buffy stood up and stretched, "Will, I've got some stuff to show you. I just want your help picking out the right thing to wear tonight. I'll be right back." She grabbed some stuff out of her closet and left the room to change, leaving Willow alone with her thoughts.  
  
*Oh well. I wonder if can talk Buffy into lending me some of her clothes for my date with Oz tonight. Maybe . . .* Willow didn't finish her thought as she lurched to her feet. She felt so strange- like she was leaving her body or something. Then she couldn't breathe.  
  
"Buffy! Buffy I . . . " Willow heard her voice growing fainter and began to freak. "BUFFY! I can't . . . " Her voice trailed off as she collapsed. Her last thought was that she was really cranky this had to happen the day she had a date. Then everything went black. She lay on the floor as her heart made one last desperate attempt to work. Then it stopped.  
  
Buffy was in the bathroom changing when she hear Willow's call. Unconcerned she shouted back "Just a minute!"  
  
"BUFFY! I can't . . . "  
  
The fear in Willow's voice made Buffy forget about the dress she had only partially on. Buffy dashed out of the bathroom and back to her bedroom to find Willow lying unconscious on the floor. Buffy dropped to her knees next to her friend and frantically checked for a pulse, breath, anything that would indicate that Willow was still alive. Nothing.  
  
"Ohmigod Willow! Wake up!" Buffy flipped out. Her mind was a blank. Never once had she thought she would find herself sitting next to Willow's dead body.   
  
Something moved, and before Buffy's startled eyes Willow stood up. Her body stayed right where it was.  
  
"Oh. My. God." Willow said her voice stunned. "I cannot believe this happened again! If Ethan is in town I will kill him myself!" Willow's stunned look was immediately replaced with anger.  
  
"Whoa, Will slow down. When did-"  
  
"Remember Halloween Buffy? Remember the guy who changed you into an 18th century girl, Xander into a soldier and me into a ghost? Well I'm a ghost again!"  
  
"Okay. Fine. We'll just go to the library and talk to Giles. Maybe he can tell us what's going on." Buffy was determined to help her friend. Besides, this was Sunnydale. Willow's ghostly condition was probably only the beginning. "Um . . . What should we do with your body?"  
  
  
After a collective exposition, Willow was reading a book with Cordelia's assistance. The cheerleader, blind the way she had been lthe previous year during that whole witch-who-wanted-to-be-a-cheerleader incident, turning the pages for Willow who, being a ghost and therefore insubstantial, could not. Oz, Xander and Buffy doing what for them passed as research sat at various points around the room. They had started off with Willow and Oz working together, but Cordelia had insisted on helping so here they were. Giles was concerned and upset and Jenny knew that he only got that way when he couldn't find anything about the latest demon or ghoulie they faced within his numerous books. She sighed and got up from the computer for a moment and walked over to him.   
  
"Rupert, you have to take a break. Just a quick one. Clear your head."  
  
"I have to find this Jenny, what if the next thing is more serious? What if it incapacitates Buffy? We can't afford that." Giles was insistent.  
  
"You're not going to get anything done if your brain has fizzled out Ripper."  
  
A silence filled the room.  
  
Giles' head snapped up "What did you say?" he said slowly with exagerrated enunciation.  
  
"She just called you 'Ripper'." Oz said looking puzzled, "Why did she call you Rip-"  
  
The werewolf stopped as he looked at her. Jenny Calender's face was now a hideous demonic mask with small blue spots and a series of lumps and grotesque bulges marred her pretty face.   
  
"Eyghon, how . . . Angel's demon destroyed you," Giles stared into the face of his possessed girlfriend, sounding almost faint. "How did you survive?"  
  
"Ripper, insanity does not suit you. What are you talking about?" The demon smiled at his ex-follower vastly amused.  
  
Suddenly a groan erupted from behind them as Oz dropped to his knees and exhaled sharply "No! It's not possible!" he gasped, "It's nowhere close to the full moon and . . . daytime-" He dropped to his knees and the others watched in fascinated horror as Oz began to transform.   
  
Cordelia's panicked cry cut across the room, "Guys what's going on? What happened to Ms. Calender? And Oz? Xander? Someone?"  
  
Cordelia's panic shook Buffy into action. As Oz stood up, now furred and fanged, he lunged toward the Slayer. Buffy faked left and dove to her right as the wolf leaped forward to smash headfirst into the book cage. Buffy, taking advantage of the effects of that headfirst slam into a solid object, grabbed a length of rope from inside the weapons locker, and using it as a lasso (and thanking her lucky stars it had been left like that from her last training session), she managed to get Eyghon temporarily under control. She turned back to the werewolf who was already recovering from his self-inflicted concussion.  
  
"Xander, Giles, make sure that she can't get out of that but be careful!"  
  
"Buffy," Willow broke in alternately watching the fight and keeping Cordelia from having hysterics "The dart gun! Then at least we don't have to worry about Oz."  
  
Buffy, busy trying not to get bitten or scratched by the wolf, didn't respond but started working herself toward the locker again. Giles' shout disrupted her concentration and a smack from Oz's paw sent her flying. "Buffy don't get the gun! If Eyghon takes possession of Oz in his current state there's no telling what could happen."   
  
"Great so what am I going to do-" Buffy began as she picked herself up. She got her response as Xander, in a valiant if as usual pointless attempt to tie the animal up in chains, leapt on Oz's back. He was thrown across the room and slammed into the opposite wall for his troubles.  
  
Buffy didn't wait to see if he was all right, but leaped onto the werewolf's back herself and proceeded with much difficulty to tie it down and get it contained in the book cage. Oz struggled for a moment, but it was no use. Buffy had done her job well, and he wasn't able to move an inch.  
  
Xander staggered to his feet and looked around the room. The odds of finding a solution to the mess had just fallen drastically. Ms. Calender, currently the only person able to do research on the computer was out of commission, Cordelia had been reduced to turning pages for Willow, and Oz, another of the so-called research assistants was also out of the picture.   
  
"Great. Now Ms. Calender has joined the dark side again and Oz is probably incapable of doing anything besides chasing his tail. What are we gonna do?" Xander asked, his wisecracks, as always, hiding his abject terror.  
  
"I suppose Willow could take over the computer research, and Xander, you and Buffy-" Giles began.  
  
Cordelia broke in her voice dripping with annoyance, "Okay, pathetic-much? Willow can't touch anything how is she supposed to do research? And Xander, being the complete doofus that he is isn't any help anyway and we all know that Buffy is like so not good at the research thing," and Cordelia, all insensitivity aside, had a point.  
  
"First of all 'hey' I am not a doofus any more than you're concerned with anything beyond the latest idiot trend. And second, what's your great plan huh?" Xander demanded to cover up his pathetic excuse for a comeback.  
  
"You and Willow work together to do that computer thing, and Buffy walks me home since I'm no use here, then gets Angel, and they come back to the Library to help with research." Cordelia explained her plan as though speaking to a small child.  
  
Giles was only partly listening. "What I don't follow is how this is happening. It's not Oz's 'time of the month' as Willow puts it , and Angel's demon destroyed Eyghon." He paused, "Is it possible that this is all unrelated?"  
  
Buffy spoke up, "Giles, it's almost like stuff that's happened before is happening over again. I mean Cordy was blinded by Amy's mom, and Willow was a ghost at Halloween this year, and we all know Oz is a werewolf, and this Eyghon thing," Buffy paused trying to organize what she was saying into coherence.  
  
"It's like a really bad flashback episode of The Addams Family," Xander broke in. "Maybe the Hellmouth is out of new material and is filling in time without doing a repeat season. Hey if we're like the A-"  
  
"Xander you may be on to something!" Giles turned around speaking over his shoulder as he began to rummage through his books for relevant volumes, "Willow, see if you can find anything on this . . . uh . . . flush-"  
  
"Flashback," supplied Buffy  
  
"Thank you, flashback phenomenon, and Buffy-"  
  
"Yeah?"  
  
"Take Cordelia home and get Angel will you?"  
  
  
It was after dark by the time Buffy started on her way to Angel's before anything else happened. She was walking by one of the many Sunnydale cemeteries when she decided to take a short cut through. There was a risk of delay due to unexpected slayage, but she was willing to take it if there was the possibility of an apocalypse.  
  
She stopped and looked around her to make sure that no one would see her, and then easily vaulted the wall avoiding the spikes on top. She landed silently on the other side and took off, weaving between the grave markers. It was quiet and Buffy glanced about nervously expecting something, hoping in fact for a quick scuffle just to ease her nerves a little. Something to take out her tension on.  
  
"Come on Buffy you have to stay calm and whoa they say the first step to insanity is talking to yourself. Chill, okay? It's not like you'll run into the Master or anything." Buffy was about to continue her monologue when a chillingly familiar voice spoke.  
  
"Really Slayer I thought better of you. Who can ever really be rid of me?"  
  
Buffy whirled around feeling slightly sick to her stomach. Standing beside an empty grave was a man dressed in a leather suit that Buffy had been sure she had seen the last of. His hideous face, bald head, and yellowed fangs sending waves of terror through her.  
  
The Master.  
  
"How . . . how . . . you're-"  
  
"Dead? Slayer, because you fear it I am free." He smiled calmly, waiting. Waiting for the words he knew she had to say.  
  
"No! You're not . . . this is a dream!" Buffy's heart was thudding in panic now. Where was Angel when she needed him?  
  
"A dream is a wish your heart makes - This is real life." His hand shot out and grabbed her by the throat. Buffy was paralyzed. She could barely breathe. "What are you afraid of Slayer?" he asked, a smirk on his gruesome face, "How about being buried alive!" As if to punctuate the last word he threw her into the grave. Into a coffin which slammed closed as she hit the bottom.  
  
Buffy screamed and pummelled the lid. It was no use. She was trapped. As she heard the dirt hit the cover she screamed again. "No!"  
  
Her last thought as her air ran out was that this was a really sucky piece of deja vu.  
  
  
Angel headed into the school. Buffy wasn't home and when he had gone over to Willow's she hadn't been home either. He had already been by the Bronze and there hadn't been any sign of the Scooby gang. The next logical choice was the library since it was more than likely, now that the recreational possibilties had been exhausted, they were researching the latest demon the Hellmouth had thrown at them.   
  
He walked down the hall thinking of everything that had happened in the past two years. Things that he would have said were impossible two years ago. He had fallen in love. And not with just anyone, he had fallen in love with the Slayer. Beautiful, sweet, witty, sexy, smart, Buffy Summers. Of course, the fact was that falling in love with her was easy. He had seen that half of the young men around her were in love with his lover (His lover). What was shocking was that she was in love with him. He could never understand what she saw in him. He was an ancient, undead, vampire monster with more blood on his hands than anyone currently living. Unliving was another story.  
  
But last night! Last night she had given herself to him completely. Angel's errant mind began to recall in exquisite detail the entirety of the previous evening's encounter. How he had run into her as he hurried home. The way that first kiss in six months had felt and how they had somehow made it back to his place without being arrested for indecent behaviour. The way she had looked flushed lying there smiling that way he knew was just for him, the skin against skin-  
  
Angel's thoughts were interrupted as he ran into an extremely worried Xander emerging from the boy's washroom.   
  
"Oh look if it isn't Dead Boy," Obviously not worried enough to leave off the wisecracks and insults, "So you're finally back. Unfortunately. What happened? You decide to hand over that arm to some of the fang gang to get back early?"  
  
Angel sighed inwardly. He had forgotten about one of the major down sides to dating Buffy, one Alexander Harris. The boy didn't trust him. Not that Angel blamed him, the fact of the matter was that of all the group, Xander was the one Angel felt he understood best. The vampire had never quite followed the way the others just accepted him with so much ease. Angel knew that had he been in their shoes he never would have fully trusted himself. Xander's jealousy, another emotion Angel was well acquainted with, and his mistrust were things that Angel understood. On the other hand the boy could be so irritating sometimes.  
  
"No Xander. I actually found a safe place for it to go. And second, don't call me that."  
  
Xander seemed about to respond when he gasped and staggered into the wall. As Angel watched, startled, the boy's head came up and for a moment his eyes glowed, his posture and air changing subtly and totally.   
  
"Xander?" Angel moved forward to give the boy a hand if he needed it, "Are you alright?"  
  
The way he looked at Angel made the vampire uncomfortable. "Sure Angel, I'm fine." Then he laughed.   
  
It reminded the elder man of something although he was unsure of what. The laughter was vaguely reminiscent of the way that Dru would giggle when she was talking to one of her dolls. The thought made Angel even more concerned.  
  
"Are you positive? Because you're acting really oddly Xander."  
  
Xander began to walk towards Angel. Something in his walk reminded the vampire of a hunter stalking its prey. "Of course I'm positive Angel. I'm always fine when I can remove another obstacle between me and Buffy." With those last words Xander moved in on Angel with a series of tightly controlled punches that threw him off balance.  
  
"Xander what do you think you're doing! You can't-" Angel began, confused because even as he said this he realized Xander's strength had almost doubled.  
  
"Can't what? Can't kill you?" Xander laughed again. The same slightly hysterical laugh that had made Angel nervous before. "Please. You're so pathetic with your brooding and your whining. You've always been stronger, Angel, but look who's here to challenge you, freak. You-"  
  
Xander was abruptly cut off as his put downs provided the necessary break in his guard for Angel to get through. He drove his palm straight into Xander's chin snapping the boy's head back, but Xander recovered quickly and swept Angel's feet out from under him. Snarling, Angel's head came up, the face of a handsome young man replaced by the twisted mask of the demon inside him, and he launched himself at Xander.   
  
The boy wasn't there, and as Angel whirled around, realizing his mistake almost too late, he saw a makeshift stake descending aimed at where his back had been. Angel whirled around, knocking the stake out of Xander's hand and was returned with a punch in the stomach. As Xander dove for the stake, Angel took advantage of the moment, grabbing the first thing that came to hand, and brought it down on Xander's head. The desk, which had been left out in the hall by some forgetful janitor shattered, and Xander hit the floor hard.  
  
Angel's face reverted to normal as he looked at the unconscious boy lying on the floor in front of him. *What the hell is going on?*  
  
The vampire shrugged inwardly and began to haul the comatose teenager to the library where some answers might be had.  
  
Willow was just about to go looking for Xander when Angel came in carrying her friend's limp body over one shoulder.  
  
"Ohmigod Xander! What happened?"  
  
"I hit him,"   
  
"With what?"  
  
"A desk."  
  
With that last remark a memory surfaced. Being called a pasty face, and the memory of having had the exact same conversation about a year ago with Buffy.  
  
"Giles!" Willow called.  
  
"What is it, Willow? Is Xander back- oh." the combination of irritation and resignation on Giles's face was priceless.  
  
Willow steadfastly ignored it however, "We're going to need some more rope. Xander's a hyena again."  
  
"Oh dear. There's some in the weapon's locker but I can't see how we're going to get it."  
  
Willow was wondering that too. Not long after Buffy left, Oz had broken free of the chains Buffy had used on him, and had been pacing inside the cage since. Unfortunately this meant there was no way to deal with Xander. If Willow went in she wouldn't get hurt, but she also couldn't pick up the rope and bring it out. If Giles went in he would get hurt. That left Angel. But with Eyghon around they couldn't afford to have any unconscious bodies lying about. Angel was looking at Jenny and curiously asking Giles how in the hell a demon he had killed six months before had miraculously reposessed the man's girlfriend.  
  
That gave Willow an idea. "Angel, remember how we dealt with Eyghon the last time?"  
  
"Yeah," he could see where this was heading. "You want me to put the demon in danger again so it can be wiped out?"  
  
"Yes. That way we've at least temporarily dealt with one problem," Willow noted the vampire's wince and tried to appear sympathetic to the pain he was about to go through, "and we can get some free rope to tie Xander up with."  
  
"Fine. But somebody had better tell me what's going on and what happened to Xander." Angel was getting damned annoyed with having only half explanations. He'd only just returned to Sunnydale and the damn town just hadn't given him a break. "Here we go again," and he grabbed the possessed computer teacher around the neck and began to strangle her. As before, he felt the demon jump to his body. As before, the pain was excruciating. Angel felt like the two demons had changed his body into a battleground.  
  
Finally his demon wiped the metaphorical floor with Eyghon. In the battle's aftermath Angel just lay the floor, wondering why Willow hadn't offered to help him up. Jenny was busy making puppydog eyes at Giles so Angel staggered to his feet and turned to Willow. "All right, will you please tell me what is going on?"  
  
"Well, you see, Angel, we're not entirely sure. Basically we're suffering from what could only be called Hellmouth style flashbacks." Willow paused trying to figure out how best to explain the situation as they knew it. "Like, I got changed into a ghost this afternoon at Buffy's and somehow Ms. Calender got possessed by Eyghon again. Cordelia went blind the way she did when Amy's mom was casting spells on members of the cheerleading squad, and Xander just got possessed by a hyena spirit. Oz is in the cage," she said pointing at the werewolf.  
  
"Wait a minute, these events are happening at random?" Angel asked unsure of the situation, "Is it possible that this is some side effect of the Hellmouth? Some kind of overload of paranormal activity causing the Hellmouth to . . . to-"  
  
"Cause flashbacks," Willow supplied.  
  
Giles stared at them in surprise and said, "You know Angel, I believe you might be right!" He continued "Unfortunately if this is the case then there may be nothing we can do to resolve this problem but wait until the Hellmouth runs out of uh . . . material. The only question is why it would happen now. This does, in fact, resemble a regular occurrence which normally happens, oddly enough, at the turn of the century according to the Christian calendar. Something must have set it off. If only we knew what-"  
  
"Fine. Now that we've figured this out, where's Buffy?" Angel was starting to get concerned. His lover hadn't returned yet, and he hadn't seen her anywhere else.  
  
"I don't know, she was supposed to drop Cordelia off at home and then get you," Giles said suddenly worried, "Someone should look for her-"   
  
Angel was already gone. 


	2. Resolution

An hour later he still hadn't found her when he decided to check out the last of Sunnydale's graveyards. As he walked past the various tombstones and monuments he smiled slightly as he remembered the times they had making out, arguing, making up (often followed by making out) when he ran into a freshly erected tombstone. Angel was about to keep moving when the words on the stone made him stop and drop to his knees in horror.  
Buffy Summers  
1981-1998  
Rest in Peace  
  
  
Angel put his hand on the dirt that now covered the body of his beloved and felt tears welling in his eyes. No! She can't be . . . His mind wouldn't say the word. He couldn't imagine the concept. A world without Buffy. Angel felt as though his heart had been torn from his chest as he knelt there. He had no idea how long he was there. It could have been seconds, days, centuries.   
  
Then a hand shot out of the dirt and wrapped around his own. Angel pulled back in startlement but the hand held on. It was followed by an arm, and then Buffy was standing in front of him brushing dirt off her clothes. Her head was down and her face was concealed by her hair.  
  
Angel stared in joyful amazement. She was fine. Then as he watched she said in a low, soft voice, "Angel?"  
  
"Yes? Buffy I can't believe . . . You're okay!" Angel started forward when she suddenly backed away from him, her face still obscured. "Buffy? what's wrong-" as he stepped closer to pull her against him she backed away again.  
  
"Don't! Please Angel. Don't look at me!" Buffy whirled around as he tried to get her to look at him and ran. Angel, confused but determined to find out what had happened, chased after her. He caught her just as she was about to vault the wall of the cemetery.  
  
Buffy struggled against Angel. Then, abruptly, she stopped and buried her head into Angel's chest and began to sob. Angel immediately wrapped his arms around her and softly whispered to her telling her everything would be okay.   
  
"I just can't believe it," She sobbed, "It was as bad as last time, maybe worse, oh Angel I-"  
  
"Shh it's okay Buffy. What happened?"  
  
Buffy stepped away from Angel and taking a deep breath looked up at him. Angel's eyes widened in shock as the hair fell away from Buffy's face. Only it wasn't her face. It was twisted by the same kind of horror that Angel carried inside himself. But as he watched in bewilderment, she didn't attack. She just stood there tears falling down her face.  
  
"You weren't there when this happened the last time Angel-"  
  
"This happened before?" Angel was stunned. He couldn't imagine Buffy as a vampire, and yet here she was. And somehow she seemed even more beautiful then ever. "When?"  
  
"Last year. Some little league coach beat up one of the members of his team. The kid's astral body wreaked a little havoc making everyone's nightmares come true. Well I was attacked and buried alive by the Master and was changed into a vampire. It happened again tonight."  
  
"Why did you run? You could have just told me." Angel was confused. She had run and now she was crying. What did she think he was going to do?  
  
"You believe me? I . . . I thought you would stake and ask questions later if I let you see . . ." she gestured at her face which Angel realised after the initial shock he hadn't noticed. "And I didn't want you to see me like this. I must be hideous!"  
  
"Oh Buffy, I could never think you were hideous. You're the most beautiful woman I've ever known." Angel bent to the pleasant task of telling Buffy how much he loved her.  
  
"You're just saying that 'cause we're dating," She said with a smile. A shaky one at best, but a smile nonetheless.  
  
"Are you going to look a gift horse in the mouth?"  
  
"No. We should get back to the library, though. With all the latest weirdness that's going on we had better get back to researching."  
  
With that the two of them left. Neither one noticed the eyes glowing in the darkness looking at them through the leaves of a bush.   
  
The blond girl who the eyes belonged to stepped out and watched the couple jump the fence before breaking out into laughter. The eyes of the cheerleading trophy she held in her hands which normally seemed to follow the viewer now moved back and forth wildly on their own, and a muffled scream seemed to emanate from the statuette.   
  
"That's right research away. It won't do you any good little girl. You helped my ungrateful brat and trapped me in that trophy. You'll pay, now that I'm back." Katherine Madison laughed again and walked away leaving the trophy lying in the grass of the cemetery and ignoring the the muffled but frantic screams of her daughter.  
  
  
They had been researching for hours and nothing had come up. Giles was so deeply involved in his research he might as well have been in an isolation tank. Ms. Calender had managed to get him away from his investigation only by threatening to force him to do something on the computer. It wasn't an idle threat, as one of the only two people who could use the computer was unable to do so due to an extreme case of insubstantiality, and the other was getting too tired to see the screen straight. Buffy had finally suggested that she and Willow take over the task of computer research with her acting as Willow's hands.   
  
The constant barrage of nasty comments and Oz's growling which rapidly became an ongoing dialogue between him and Xander did little to help.  
  
Angel finally spoke up, "Giles, it's nearly dawn and we haven't found anything yet. I think we should all call it quits before you and Ms. Calender pass out."  
  
"No! Go on Giles, I really want to see what your girlfriend looks like when she's lying down," Xander said with a leer, "I'll bet it's something you'll never get to see."  
  
"This coming from someone who was a victim of a certified virgin thief?" Buffy said, "Boy I'd hate to think what you'd be saying if you actually had something resembling experience, hyena boy." She smiled and it had teeth in it.  
  
Angel looked over at Xander, surprised, "Xander is still a card carrying member of the virgins club? I hadn't realised . . . I mean I thought-"  
  
"We found out last year. Remember fork guy? Well I used him to find a giant preying mantis that mates with male virgins and then decapitates them." Buffy smiled at the memory it evoked, "You gave me your leather jacket."  
  
"And Xander pulled a major jealousy fit. 'He's buff! She never said he was buff!'" Willow put in with a smile.  
  
Before a somewhat taken aback Angel could respond to this Giles broke in, obviously annoyed, "If we are done chatting I really would like to get back to work. If any of you are interested in this, then I could use some help!"  
  
"Sorry Giles, I-" Buffy began.  
  
"Well Buffy and I can't stay any longer. The sun is coming up very shortly and I would rather not get caught out. And Giles, maybe you don't need the sleep but Jenny does, and Willow should probably go and reassure her mother that she's all right."  
  
"Angel's right Rupert, you look exhausted. Let me walk you home. Okay?" Ms. Calender smiled at Giles winningly and levered him out of his chair. His concentration broken, Giles abruptly realised how tired he was and followed her docilely out the door.  
  
"Oh isn't that sweet. The computer teacher is going to give the librarian a mercy lay." The hyena that was Xander snickered, "I never realised how much Ms. Calender was into helping the needy."  
  
"Xander, shut the hell up!" Willow said in exasperation, "You're not one to talk about a mercy lay seeing as how you're dating Cordelia, Mantis boy!"  
  
"Ooo scared Will, so scared. This from the girl who has to talk her boyfriend into kissing her. The only reason you're defending him is that you're in the same boat."  
  
"Alright Xander that is certainly enough-" Angel began, but Xander interrupted him, ignoring the implicit threat in his words.  
  
"What, Dead Boy, scared to hear what might possibly be the truth about you and Buffy? That she's only attracted to you cause you're dangerous? Well guess who's dangerous now, huh, Dead Boy. I mean really-"  
  
"My God, do the bad guys ever come up with new things to say? I mean it was different last year when you were trying to rape me, but Xander, this is a little pathetic." Buffy cut into the hyena's monologue in irritation.  
  
"He tried to rape you? When?" The growl in Angel's voice distracted the others from the conversation with Xander.  
  
"Last year. Angel don't worry about it, it was a hyena who was converting his affection for me into hyena-ish methods of dating. Did that make sense to anyone?" Buffy said with a sigh.  
  
"Listen," Willow broke into the discussion before it got any more senseless, "Angel, you and Buffy had better get indoors before the sun comes up, we don't need to worry about Xander getting loose, and when we all meet back here someone can bring Oz and Xander some raw meat to gnaw on. Okay?"  
  
"Yes sir! I mean Ma'am!" Buffy grinned.  
  
  
Buffy and Angel made it back to his place minutes before sunrise. Angel leaned against the doorframe and sighed, " I haven't pushed the dawn like that since Darla and I were feeding in Budapest in 1899."  
  
"I'm sorry, it's just that I wanted to check the messages in case Mom had called. What was I supposed to do? Tell her when she got back that I didn't respond to her messages because I forgot to check the machine?"  
  
"Yes."  
  
"Angel, I'm a seventeen-year-old, white, Californian girl. We don't forget to check messages."  
  
Angel sighed. He loved his girlfriend, but some days he just didn't understand her. He watched her now as she walked around the room looking at things. Angel let his thoughts drift back to the night before again.  
  
Then he focussed himself with a shake of his head, "I'll take the couch and you can sleep on the bed."  
  
Buffy shook her head, "No way. You had to sleep on the floor the last time we were having an emergency stayover. I'll couch it."  
  
"Buffy, the couch isn't uncomfortable-"  
  
"Then you won't mind if I sleep on it. Unless of course," Her face took on a lascivious expression, "You want to ah . . . share the bed." She smiled. then caught his look. It was his hopeful puppydog-eyed look. Buffy stepped towards him and slipped her arms around his neck. She kissed him, letting out a startled gasp as he scooped her up into his arms and carried her to the bed.   
  
Two hours later Angel lay in bed with Buffy curled around him. It was kind of disturbing to feel her lying there without a pulse or anything, but introducing her, at least temporarily, to vampiric sex had been worth it.   
  
Buffy sighed in her sleep and Angel watched as her face briefly changed to that of a vampire and back again. The sight of Buffy's vampiric face reminded Angel of how disturbing this had to be for Buffy. She was the slayer, but she was also a vampire. *At least for the moment,* he reminded himself. He began to wonder what he was going to do that evening. For the most part fledglings were absolutely starving by the second day if they hadn't gotten a chance to feed. It was possible that Buffy might go through the same thing when she woke up. Angel sighed inwardly and cuddled Buffy closer. He would just have to improvise.  
  
  
Willow was walking through the graveyard when she heard a sound. It was like a faint whimper. She paused and listened more carefully and then began to follow the sound to the source. She paused for a moment however considering getting somebody to come with her when it dawned on Willow that she didn't need to be as careful as usual, because she was currently a ghost, and therefore not in any danger from a physical confrontation.  
  
As she rounded a particularly ugly monument to some member of Sunnydale who had died in the 20's, she saw a glint in the grass. As Willow hurried forward the sound suddenly got louder. She looked down and saw the trophy that Katherine Madison, Amy's mom had won when she went to high school. The same one that Oz had admired the lifelike eyes of. As Willow reached down to touch it, forgetting that she couldn't pick it up, she heard the faint noise again. This time however, it seemed to be forming a word. Her name.   
  
As Willow's hand passed through the statuette she heard a voice clearly and distinctly in her head.  
  
*Willow! Oh God! You've gotta help me!*  
  
Willow jerked her hand away in shock. "Amy? What . . . How. . . Where are you?" She thought she heard the noise again. It was desperate sounding and Willow tried to remember what she had done that had made her hear Amy. She reached out her hand again and stuck it into the trophy.  
  
*I'm in the trophy Willow. Mom somehow switched the two of us and she's in my body. She said something about revenge. I think she's after Buffy and the librarian. You have to help me. I'm sure that Mr. Gilis-*  
  
"Giles."  
  
*Giles then- can fix me. Please Willow, I need your help.*  
  
Willow was about to tell Amy that she was going to be right back with assistance when a thought occurred to her. "Amy, did she say something about uh . . . memory, or I don't know . . . something else?"  
  
*She said something about research when she overheard Buffy and her boyfriend talking but that's all. I don't know what she did.* Amy's thoughts simulated a shrug.   
  
Willow sighed. She had no idea what it was that Amy's mom had done, but she was fairly sure it was connected with the flashbacks. "Look, I can't help you right now, 'cause I'm sort of a ghost, but I'll get Giles and we'll figure out a way to fix this. I'll be right back. Okay?"  
  
*Okay. Just . . . just hurry.*  
  
Willow took off for Giles' place. With any luck they would be able to figure out what was happening and stop it before something awful and irreparable occurred.  
  
  
Giles was asleep. He was having a very nice dream about Jenny. As he leaned forward to kiss her a loud pounding sound interrupted his dream and he awoke with a start. Jenny was lying curled up against him asleep, and for a moment Giles hoped that the loud knocking had been a part of his dream. He was about to pull the technopagan closer and go back to sleep when the loud knocking sounded through his house again.  
  
With a groan he got up and went to the door to get rid of whoever was there. "What do you-" He began but didn't get to finish the thought.   
  
A young woman, *Amanda? Amy?* he thought, pushed past him into the house. Giles noted that she looked upset, almost panicking. "Mr. Giles, you helped me before when my mom went nuts and switched our bodies. I need your help, she's back now and causing the flashbacks of stuff that happened before on the Hellmouth."  
  
Then Giles remembered her "Do you know what happened? Why she's back?"  
  
"I . . . I don't know how she got out of the trophy she was trapped in, she said something about revenge on you and Buffy." The girl bit her lip, obviously frightened.  
  
"Do you have any idea how she has achieved this flashback effect?" Giles demanded.  
  
"As far as I can tell she pumped enough power into the Hellmouth to overload it. I'm not sure but she may have used the Hellmouth as a source of energy, creating a feedback loop which set it off faster. If we manage the counterspell in time it may stop the flashbacks and even reverse them."   
  
Ms. Calender came down the stairs, "Well, then we'd better hurry. Do you know where this is set up?" She asked.  
  
"Yeah. At my place. Mom is out looking for Buffy I think."  
  
"Well then let's go," Ms. Calender said, "Just lead the way."  
  
As they left Katherine smiled inwardly. Soon she would have her revenge, and that little blonde brat who had foiled her plans would be history. She led the oh so gullible girl's friends off to her house to begin the final step of her plan.  
  
  
After shouting for what seemed the hundredth time, Willow just walked through the wall and began looking around. Nobody was there. As she reached the door she noticed that it was after sunset. Willow immediately headed off to Angel's, deciding that after they had Amy, they would go to the library and tell Giles.   
  
When she got to Angel's Willow, forgetting the turn that Buffy and Angel's relationship had taken just walked straight in and marched into a tableau she would have preferred not to see.   
  
Both Angel and Buffy were undressed and were heading for the shower, although both stopped when they saw Willow. "Um . . . Hi Will we were just uh. . . What are you doing here?" Buffy said.  
  
*Oh crap crapcrapcrapcrap* . . . "I was . . . just . . . here to . . . tell you . . . that I know . . . what caused . . . the stuff and I'll go wait outside now bye!" She finished in a rush, and shot through the door leaving a confused Buffy and Angel in her wake.  
  
When the door opened Buffy and Angel were there fully dressed and certainly wanting explanations. Of that Willow was sure. "Okay guys, I know you aren't exactly thrilled to see me right now, but there are more important things to deal with and you can kill me later," *Again* she added silently, "Amy's mom is back."  
  
"WHAT! She caused this didn't she?! I'll kill her this time I swear I'll rip her head off with my bare hands!" Buffy's face had shifted and she was growling. *Not a good sign.* Willow thought. Angel grabbed Buffy and kissed her. As they were kissing Buffy's face shifted back to normal. "What was that for?" She asked looking confused, but certainly happier.  
  
"You flipped out. I simply thought that it would be best if you calmed down before running off and letting the demon take control." Angel explained, "Who's Amy, and what does her mother have to do with all this?" He asked.  
  
"Amy's mom is a witch who wanted to be a cheerleader again so badly she took over Amy's body, mutated various cheerleaders so that they were off the team, and nearly killed Buffy. Amy said she's back for revenge." Willow summarised for Angel's benefit.  
  
"Then where is she?" Buffy inquired.  
  
"That's another problem. You remember when her mom vanished without a trace? Well she was stuck in her cheerleading trophy. She got out, and switched places with Amy. We have to go by the graveyard and pick up the trophy, and then get to the library to tell Giles so that we can fix this."  
  
The three hurried off to the graveyard and picked up the now somewhat panicked Amy and almost ran to the library. As they walked by the school supply room, they saw a bunch of vampires walking along as if they were in a trance. The three slammed against the wall (and in Willow's case through it).  
  
"What's going on?" Angel asked in a hesitant whisper.  
  
"That's what I would bloody well like to know," A far too familiar voice said from behind them. Willow, Angel, and Buffy turned. There was Spike, holding his head as though it was something delicate.  
  
"All of a sudden Dru took off for here, and when I get here there's a bunch of sleepwalkin' dolts tryin' to kill me or something. Only they didn't do too good a job of it."  
  
"Did they leave you locked up in a closet somewhere with an egg or a little gross buggy thing?" Buffy asked on a hunch.  
  
"Yeah. You know something about it?"  
  
"Yet another flashback in a long couple of days of them. Will, you remember the Bezoar right?" Buffy responded. "Anyway, I doubt the Bezoar is the worst of our problems. I have a very bad feeling about Drusilla being in the school. Call it a hunch. Until we've got this figured out though Spike, truce?"  
  
"Agreed." Spike glowered however and demanded, "So what the hell is going on?"  
  
They began moving quickly to the library with Buffy and Angel filling Spike in on the way. Willow decided to take a shortcut through a couple of walls to shorten the distance for herself. When she got to the library however, she saw something that made her head for the door. As she ran into the hallway she ran straight through the others coming up quickly.   
  
"Whoa! Willow! What's wrong?" Angel began instantly worried.  
  
Buffy turned away from the window in the library door saying, "I think I'm going to be sick."  
  
Spike just continued to stare "Dru-" He said faintly.  
  
Angel looked in and saw Drusilla sitting on a grinning Xander's lap. As he continued to watch, she leaned down and kissed him. Angel turned away from the window and stared at the two girls in shock. "I wouldn't have believed it if I hadn't seen it." He said in a dazed voice.  
  
They suddenly heard growling from behind them. As the three of them turned around they saw Spike's face had changed, and he was snarling at the couple in the library. He slammed open the doors and strode in. The others followed hastily. Drusilla and Xander looked up from their reverie. "Oh look if it isn't Dead Boy, a friend of his and a pasty face," The grin Xander's face was truly nasty. "What do you think we should do with them Dru?"  
  
"I know mate, you should run!" With that Spike leaped, snarling, at Xander who with unbelievable agility, dodged the enraged vampire's lunge. He whirled around in a vicious kick to the head which caught Spike off balance. Meanwhile, Drusilla flew at Buffy with an enraged cry and lashed out at her. Buffy's face shifted to that of the demon inside her, and lashed out with a powerful kick which sent Drusilla staggering back.  
  
Willow watched the melee in stunned silence at first. Then, gradually, she started to get angry. Abruptly her loud voice cut across the room startling everyone into stillness, "Hey! Everyone shut up and sit down!" Much to Willow's surprise they obeyed. She didn't let herself think about it though, and just kept talking, "Buffy, Angel, I want you guys to focus on finding something that can switch Amy and her Mom back. Spike, If you want to get Drusilla back you'd damn well better help with finding something that will reverse the flashback effect. But first, we'll control the two loons, tie them up, and toss them in a cage somewhere. Get it?"  
  
"Got it." Buffy replied having scooped up some rope and tied down Dru using the distraction.  
  
"Good." Willow turned and faced the others "What are you waiting for? Move!"  
  
Xander and Dru were tossed into the cage and sat there grumbling and trying to squirm across the floor to each other without the werewolf noticing. Spike, Angel, Willow, and Buffy researched with Buffy acting as Willow's hands. It was Spike who found the spell which would get Amy out of the trophy.   
  
Amy, who had been forgotten, was intensely grateful to be remembered. Finally.  
  
The set up for the spell was simple. A little rue and black alder burning in a bowl with the trophy in it, and a couple drops of a witch's blood added during the casting. The whole was to take place in a circle drawn with chalk on the library floor, while Willow recited the incantation.  
  
When everything was set up, Buffy got ready by pricking Willow's body with a pin and getting ready to drop it into the bowl. Then Willow began to read.   
  
"Korsheth feed of mine energy and be sated, release the unworthy from the confines of your spell! Heed your servant! Return her soul from the dark place! Release the unworthy! Release!" Willows voice grew louder with each word until she was shouting, "Buffy! Now!"  
  
Buffy dropped the blood into the bowl and there was a flash. The bowl and everything in it had disappeared. There stood a woman with red-tinted brown hair who appeared to be in her forties. For a moment everyone just stood there, and then Amy said "Listen we just have to switch me and my mom and everything should be okay."  
  
  
At Amy's house the blonde girl had just staggered as she felt her daughter get loose of the spell. *No! Not now! Not when I'm so close!* "We have to hurry, she's found out." She said in response to questioning glances.  
  
Giles immediately began to read his portion of the spell while Ms. Calender sat and waited for her turn. Something had been nagging at the edges of her consciousness ever since that girl had started to outline her plans. Something about the spell wasn't right. *Maybe it's the construction?* She thought to herself, *What am I missing?* It was just as she was about to read her part that she realised what it was. The spell was going to disrupt the loop that was causing the Hellmouth's overload and dump all the power into the girl. She would become the Hellmouth! Jenny leaped up "Rupert stop-"   
  
It was too late. The spell had already taken hold and there was nothing she could do except try to disrupt the spell, hope that it wouldn't blow anything up and that it would reduce the amount of power added to the witch's own. Janna of the Kalderash Romany began to read her portion, only altering some words and dropping into the language of her ancestors as she did so, "Release the power Korsheth and Hecate I implore return it to its place and let it be moved no more,"  
  
  
Willow stood there and plunged her hands into the seething liquid before her shouting "Drink of mine energy and be sated! Korsheth release the unworthy!" Amy staggered and found herself in a room with Giles and Ms. Calender, and heard Ms. Calender shouting in foreign language. Then she was back in the library feeling so dizzy and sick, *This didn't happen the last time Mom and I were switched!*  
  
  
Katherine staggered as she returned to her house. The Calender woman wasn't speaking English anymore, and she felt so dizzy. *That girl isn't going to stop me! Not again!* She thought, unsure whether she was thinking of her daughter or Buffy. Then she saw the shape the spell was forming. The Calender bitch must have caught on to what she was doing, *If I have to finish the spell on my own so be it!* "And I shall look upon my enemy, and I shall-" She was interrupted by another flash which had her in the library again, being held by that rotten child who had ruined her plans before.  
  
  
Giles heard the beginnings of Katherine's spell and was briefly frightened "What is going on?!" He shouted over the din in the room. "Jenny, what did you mean by-" Then he saw her eyes. They were dark and as they concentrated for a moment on his face he felt he couldn't breathe. Then she refocussed on the spell and continued.  
  
  
Amy staggered. She was back in her body, and the spell was continuing anyway. As she looked around, she realised that it was because Ms. Calender had started to disrupt Katherine's plans at this end and the spell was flying out of control, because some of the Hellmouth's power had already been dumped into her mother and she was now capable of maintaining the spell over a distance. A wind had started, and there was lightning flashing down from the ceiling. Amy did the only thing possible and went with her instincts, and began to recite another version of the release spell: "Drink of this energy, the Hellmouth's energy within her and be sated-"  
  
  
Buffy didn't have time to react as the woman she had been holding up whirled around and slammed her into the wall. Angel started forward, "Buffy!" And he too was thrown violently to the side and slumped to the ground unconscious. That moment of distraction was all that was needed, however, for Buffy to tackle Katherine.  
  
"Spike! Help me here!" Buffy shouted. Dimly in the background she could hear Willow finishing the chant.  
  
"You bitch!" The woman shrieked "You've ruined it all again! Hecate I conjure thee-"  
  
  
Suddenly, it all stopped. Amy, Giles and Ms. Calender looked at each other and slowly took a deep breath. Everything was calm again. The two women looked at each other and smiled, "Well that was . . . uh . . . certainly," He paused, unsure of what to say.  
  
"Interesting," Jenny supplied.  
  
  
At the library not all was calm. Drusilla had broken free and was attacking Angel who was only just holding her off. Spike had been knocked out in the process of trying to get Dru to go home, and Willow was only just waking up from the spot on the floor where her body had been left. All the spells had been reversed, but Katherine was still there and it was taking everyone's efforts to not get hit by a random blast.  
  
Surprisingly, it was Cordelia who solved the problem. She came running into the midst of all this chaos. She had gotten her vision back and had rushed over as soon as it happened to find out if everything was alright, or if this was just a harbinger of the Apocalypse. She vaguely recalled something she had read during one of the research sessions conducted about a week before this latest incident. *The way to kill a witch is to cut her head off.* She saw the weapons which had fallen all over the floor and picked up a large double-headed axe. Running on adrenaline and panic, she came up behind the woman, and brought the axe around and chopped Katherine's head off.  
  
Utter silence.   
  
Then, "Cordy, when did you become Xena?" Xander said staring at his girlfriend, impressed.  
  
  
It was a week later. Everything was kinda back to normal, well, as normal as things on the Hellmouth ever got. Xander and Cordelia had more than made up for their missed date, Jenny had made plans to drag Giles to see more monster trucks, and Willow and Oz were deeply involved in being cute together. Buffy and Angel made up for months of lost time.  
  
And to quote Lex, "AND THEY LIVED HAPPILY EVER AFTER DAMMIT!"  
  
The End 


End file.
